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9/04/2012

TIFF 2012: Predicting the People's Choice Award

Last year's TIFF winner Where Do We Go Now?

The 2012 Toronto International Film Festival is just days
away. Telluride is over and Venice is winding down its back half, so word is
out on some of the TIFF features. Ben Affleck’s Argo and Sarah Polley’s Stories
We Tell seem to be among the most widely fêted films of those festivals,
with good buzz also going to Central Park
Five. The most hyped film going into TIFF is easily Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, which received good word on
the Lido where it had its “world premiere”. I’m sad that I don’t have any of
these films on my line-up, especially Polley’s film, but I made the choice to
drop Stories from the busy first
weekend because it is scheduled to play in Ottawa at The Bytowne in October.
Personally, I’m already sick of hearing about The Master, so I’m going to wait for a bit of a buffer between the
festival and the film’s inevitably delayed Ottawa release in order to enjoy it
to the fullest. Every other blogger/critic seems to be drafting an epic poem in
praise of PTA, anyways, so it might be worthwhile to see something else.

Even though The Master
seems to be the favourite going in to the festival, I don’t think it will
be the favourite coming out. Last year The
Artist seemed poised to triumph, and once again, I think that the
BlackBerry People’s Choice Award seems destined for something else. All bets
are off on predicting the People’s Choice Award after Where Do We Go Now? made a surprise win last year; however, film
festivals tend to attract a certain kind of audience, and an uplifting slice of
world cinema such as Where Do We Go Now? isn’t
such an extreme choice when one looks at it more closely. Like the previous
winners The King’s Speech, Precious, and
Slumdog Millionaire, Nadine Labaki’s film is a celebration of the human
spirit in times of adversity. This factor doesn’t help explain Eastern Promises, but a trend of four in
a row offers a decent starting point.

It’s important to remember that many moviegoers at Toronto
see upwards of three films a day. I find that a busy slate favours the films
with an obvious emotional pull: you might appreciate some of the more
ambitious/dense films a few days later, but a film that tugs on heartstrings
might benefit from the immediate choice that goes into casting a ballot when a
viewer leaves the theatre. I’m not trying to cheapen films that are ripe with
emotion, but as I found last year when seeing The Descendants on a busy day, it eclipsed the other films that day
thanks to its poignancy and humanity.

With these factors in mind, let us look at five films that
might be poised to triumph at TIFF:

1. Rebelle (War Witch)

Rebelle has
already been puffed up a bit on this site, beginning with my post on potential
candidates for Canada’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the
Academy Awards. I still think Rebelle
will be our Oscar pick because it has been winning hearts and prizes at
virtually every festival it plays. It racked up a win for Best Film at
Australia’s Possible Worlds Canadian Film Festival since the last post, with
jury leader Eddie Cockrell noting,
“Equal parts haunting, bewitching and unforgettable, War Witch is a courageous and important film about determination
and survival set against the backdrop of the horrors of war.” War Witch sounds like it has all the
right ingredients to be the People’s Choice. (If not, it’s surely a contender
for Best Canadian Film.) It’s been five years since a Canadian film won at
TIFF, and I’d personally love to see a film win on our own turf. Rebelle, directed by Kim Nguyen, could possibly
be the film to do it.

2. Amour

The festival could make history this year by seeing the top
prize at TIFF match the top prize at Cannes. Michael Haneke is always a
festival favourite regardless of where his films screen, so Amour might end up as the undisputed
festival champ of the year. I personally find that Haneke’s cold stories about
a couple named Georges and Anne always make for a film that is more to be
admired than to be enjoyed. No matter how much I appreciate them, I always feel
like I’m watching them from a considerable distance. (Perhaps that’s the
point.) However, the response from Cannes, not to mention the film’s title,
suggests that Amour is a case in
which Haneke aims for both the heart and the head.

3. English Vinglish

If there is one film that should be considered an event
among the Gala screenings at TIFF, it’s English
Vinglish. This globetrotting Bollywood film marks the return of Indian
superstar Sridevi after a fifteen-year absence from the screen, so you can
expect the red carpet at Roy Thomson Hall to be absolute madness next Friday. English Vinglish should please Bollywood
fans with the actress’s comeback alone, and perhaps the transnational flavour
of the story about language barriers and cross-cultural travel could earn some
extra fives on the ballots from the crowd. Peace,
Love, & Misunderstanding might not have landed Jane Fonda the comeback
she deserved at TIFF last year, but maybe this first feature from
writer/director Gauri Shinde will relaunch Sridevi’s career with a festival
win. The chaos of flashbulbs at RTH will ensure great exposure regardless!

4. The Sessions

After scooping the Audience Award at Sundance, plus a jury
prize for ensemble acting, The Sessions
could be this year’s film to gain major Oscar traction (if it doesn’t have it
already) following a strong reception at TIFF. The film, formerly titled The Surrogate, is the story of a
paralyzed man (John Hawkes, a prospective Best Actor nominee) who hires a
prostitute (Helen Hunt, back in the race for the first time since her win for
1997’s As Good as it Gets) to help
him lose his virginity. Reviews for The
Sessions say that the film is a heartwarming and mature story of sexuality
and of living life to the fullest. A feel good movie – and a true story to boot
– The Sessions is one film I’m hoping
to make a late addition to my line-up. Maybe on Sunday’s free screening of the
People’s Choice Award winner?

5. The Impossible

I don’t know how I feel about The Impossible. I was intrigued when there was only a
Spanish-dubbed trailer floating around the net, but my desire to see the film
waned once an English one surfaced. I can’t say why, since I’m a big fan of
Naomi Watts, and early word on the film, especially regarding her performance,
is strong. Even though I won’t be seeing the film at the festival (the
screenings conflict with Midnight’s
Children and Quartet), The Impossible is one film that I might
suggest to friends/family who want to see a film at TIFF, but are not
necessarily in the mood for a “festival film.” The Impossible looks like it has considerable crossover potential
between the mainstream audiences and the art house crowd. J.A. Bayona, director
of the Spanish horror hit The Orphanage,
guides Watts and co-star Ewan McGregor in a story of a family trying to reunite
in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The special effects of the
big waves plus the new 3D sound might make The
Impossible ride a wave of praise from TIFF to its theatrical release in
December.

Now that we’ve started talking about the films at the
festival, here are some predictions (for entertainment purposes only) for the
other awards at the festival:

BlackBerry People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award:

-The ABCs of Death

(alt: John Dies at the End)

BlackBerry People’s Choice Documentary Award:

- An Act of Killing

(alt: A Liar's
Autobiography -- The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman)